ISSUE168 December 2015 Internet at www.railfuture.org.uk/East+Anglia TWITTER twitter.com/RailfutureEA. Hello and welcome to our 168th Rail East. As we head to 2016 our East Anglia railway can look back at much improvement over the last two decades, both in quality of service and quantity. But alas, not in the past year and especially this Autumn, where Abellio seem to be troubled by diesel unit reliability, with services completely absent for several days on both Felixstowe-Ipswich and Marks Tey to Sudbury. Other diesel services are being destabilised by outright unit failures or rolling stock shortage because units are in works for refurbishment (the latter we of course support!). Peter Wakefield, our Chairman, has more to say on Page 2. This Rail East also notes that the word 'PAUSE' has entered the railway lexicon, usually in reference to time-shifting much favoured infrastructure projects. More too of this inside plus where are the 'Tree Stacked Bikes' to be found (as per photograph)? Of one thing be sure though: our Branch is actively prosecuting the case for these schemes and their timescales right up to the highest level. Please do your bit too, should you be in contact with local politicians and/or railway management. It truly matters! Now, despite it being only November, I'd like to wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas, and the all-important good health during 2016 www.railfuture.org.uk/East+Anglia 1 An Unprecedented and Catastrophic Train Service Failure this Autumn Just as we are finalising this edition of RailEast a very serious situation has developed creating the near ruin of several timetables operated by Abellio Greater Anglia's diesel trains. This reliability collapse occurred on routes serving some of our major towns, with Bury St Edmunds, Felixstowe and Sudbury particularly badly affected. Vital links between our major economic hubs such as Cambridge to Norwich and to Ipswich have been cut seemingly randomly. Still worse; for several days on end the service between Ipswich and Felixstowe and Marks Tey and Sudbury has been completely abandoned. And from 19 November to Sunday 22 total substitution by bus between Norwich and Yarmouth plus cancellation of entire service from Ipswich to Peterborough! We gather nearly half the diesel trains based on Crown Point depot in Norwich are out of action. Why? After some delay, AGA began to explain the situation...here is part of a press release from their website: ".......service cancellations on some local routes in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. The problems are due to some of our diesel trains suffering wheel damage, as a result of poor rail conditions. This situation leads to excessive wear on the wheels which must be repaired before the trains can re- enter service. On average we are currently seeing two trains arrive back at the end of each day with wheel damage, more than double the rate we have experienced in previous autumn periods." Many users are asking why this terrible situation has been allowed to develop so critically? Why has no other operator nationally suffered to this degree? Why have trains not been temporarily sourced from other parts of the country where Abellio operates trains to cover this emergency? Or more locomotive hauled sets hired and placed rapidly into service? Is it complacency? East Midlands Trains operating out of Norwich have saved the day on the Thetford route at some cost to its own passengers' journey: their trains are also diesel yet have apparently managed to keep running over the same tracks as AGA without these problems. Why? There is a lesson here for all the bid teams for our new franchise: they must source enough trains to run the timetable reliably or will suffer the huge damage to their reputation now being experienced by Abellio. This must never happen again. We have written to Abellio with these questions and hopefully by our Cambridge meeting, will have at least some answers for you. PW BRANCH MEETING: CAMBRIDGE 5 DECEMBER www.railfuture.org.uk/East+Anglia 2 News about Cambridge's three(!) stations. If you have not visited the current Cambridge station forecourt recently then you will be very surprised by the changes along its entire length. The combined Ibis Hotel and Cycle Point building is several floors out of the ground as is the large block opposite the station called No1 Station Square. The site of the second hotel, just down Station Road meanwhile has been cleared, revealing for a short time the buried turntable pit from the days of steam. This bike-stacking picture shows that the Cycle Point cannot come soon enough. The long overdue reconstruction of the ticket hall is also well under way. Let us hope the finished scheme will reflect more skylight onto the station forecourt than presently seems likely. Three miles to the north however it is very much new-from- nothing at the Science Park Station site, with platform formations growing daily out of the levelled spoil, welcoming the advancing new tracks and electrification masts. There will be some travel-pain here inevitably, as next year weekend posse- ssions will have to take place to permit work on the platforms serving the mainline. So do check your travel plans northward out of Cambridge in 2016. To the south, there is genuinely serious consideration of proposals for a station at Addenbrooke's Hospital being brought forward for completion within the next five years! So, all round, exciting and encouraging news. PW www.railfuture.org.uk/East+Anglia 3 ..And of Other Stations: Newmarket Two new high quality shelters (see photo) have been installed together with improved cycle storage, so, although still a long way from the grandeur of the original structure, it is a very welcome improvement, as is the new customer information screen. A ticket vending machine is also planned Attleborough The car park has been enlarged, resurfaced and lined out. A small charge will be levied. Local members will monitor to establish whether the charge "puts people off", or whether it remain full. Ely The new waiting room, café, toilet and staff accommodation on platform 2/3 is nearing completion, thankfully, as winter rapidly approaches. Network Rail Project "Pauses" The last Rail East outlined the preliminary consultation on solving the emerging major bottleneck for all the East Anglian network; namely the single line between Soham and Ely and associated work in the Ely area. Injecting more capacity around Ely is key to fulfilling service increases, reliability and journey time improvements, for both passengers and freight. Since then however, Network Rail and the DfT have realised that they have not enough money or resources to finish the network enhancements promised us in Control Period 5. Hence "The Pause" to take stock of what can be implemented. A major casualty is the commitment to double-track Soham to Ely. This is of national importance as without this work very few extra freight trains will be able to serve the port of Felixstowe. Together with Railfuture's national Infrastructure and Networks Group we wrote a letter to the NR Chair, Sir Peter Hendy, explaining why we thought that the Felixstowe to Nuneaton line needed to be expanded as planned. We copied it to all the MPs along the route too, asking for their support. We are meeting a representative of their transport group very shortly. Another worrying 'pause' might be the phasing of the various sections of the western segment of EWRL between Bicester, Bletchley and Bedford as well as Aylesbury Bletchley. At the time of writing we are hearing mixed messages, but www.railfuture.org.uk/East+Anglia 4 should the Hendy Review seek to delay the project there can be no doubt that the immense public, political and business support for EWRL will mobilise in opposition. We sent a press statement to this effect to a local newspaper. Ironically as this hugely popular project is seemingly threatened with extended delivery, from the roads section of the DfT comes a statement, part of which reads as follows: "A study costing £512,000 will explore options into the potential for creating a dedicated road link between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge. Roads are key to our nation’s prosperity. For too long they have suffered from under investment. That is why as part of our long-term economic plan we are investing a record £15 billion in our roads programme....." At HM cash-strapped Treasury and DfT, the appeal of greater fuel income is as potent as ever. Old prejudices die hard whilst 'green' issues wither! PW/CB Our Railfuture Formal Branch Response to the Media regarding extended phased delivery of EWRL project: EWRL.... possible pause in final delivery. The Cambridge to Oxford Railway Project It is suggested by the EastWestRailConsortium (EWRC) of local authorities that phase 2 of the Western Section of the route (Bicester to Milton Keynes) may be "paused" as a result of the enquiry being conducted by Chairman of Network Rail, Sir Peter Hendy. His initial findings and recommendations are to be made public later very soon. Railfuture fully supports the consortium who are calling on Network Rail and the Department of Transport to complete phase 2 to the original timetable. This project which enjoys huge public, business and political support for its economic and environmental benefits, can be delivered without the impact on the working railway that has beset many other projects. Phase 1 of the project (from Oxford to Bicester) was completed on time and to budget two weeks ago. The trains are already very busy. None of this should affect the planning and subsequent building/delivery of the Central Section of EWRL from Bedford to Cambridge.